it is that time again. i am all packed. leaving another hotel in another city in another state.

off to another plane to go to a different city in a different state and stay in a different hotel.

there has been one thing i have been greatly missing this past week as i stayed in my hotel suite with a sitting room and jacuzzi tub. it is a little thing, i know. i won’t pretend that i am not spoiled. it is just a little thing, but it can make such a difference in my life.

i missed cooking.

i was spoiled in Georgia. i had a kitchen available to me. time to prepare meals. someone to cook with. it was the trifecta. it was perfect.

and then it was ripped away from me. rude.

i mentioned Ryan in a previous post about Cartersville. you remember him, my friendly giant that loves mint chocolate chip ice cream. well he can cook. and he likes cooking. both capable and willing. indeed, it is a rare combination. and one reason why i am a very lucky girl.

as many of you know, cooking by yourself can be time-consuming. tiring. painstaking. but with the right knowledge help, it is a blast.

Ryan likes to try new things. recipes and flavors and variations that i would not think of or instinctively gravitate to. but that is what makes cooking fun. and i guess the whole eating part after. that is a nice perk too.

so Ryan and i tackled the kitchen as a team. and made some incredible meals. what were the top 5 recipes? i am so glad you asked!

5. breakfast:

we mastered this. maple smoked bacon. garlic hash browns. scrambled eggs with veggies. the occasional addition of cinnamon rolls or blueberry crumb cake. oh, so simply delightful.

it was the best part of the weekends.

unless we went to the nook to eat tater tot masterpieces. that one is hard to beat.

4. chicken tikka masala:

this was a new one for me. it was Ryan’s idea. as you’ll find later, his insistence paid off more than once.

we did not have all the spices that we needed. a challenge of living out of a suitcase. so it was a smidge more mild than a traditional tikka masala. but we cooked the chicken in the marinating sauce so that it was moist and delicious. clutch move, Ryan. clutch move.

pair it with some naan bread and a budweiser. you will thank me.

3. romano’s pasta:

this one was all Ryan. i will not even pretend that i helped make this dish. i might have cut peppers one of the nights we made it. that was it. he was too good at it. and one should never get in the way of a master.

it is rich. and creamy. and tastes as if Ryan’s Italian fairy godmother sprinkled fairy dust in it. except he isn’t Italian.

2. pepper jack and spinach stuffed chicken:

i forgot to take a picture of this one. because it was late. like 11 pm late. and there was not any leftover at the end of the meal.

this is an old speciality of mine. it is time intensive. but it is well worth the effort. done correctly, it is the perfect combination of spice, spinach, cheese, and juicy chicken.

we tried pouring beer into the bottom of the cooking pan. it was Ryan’s idea. it was ingenious. but use a real beer. none of that light nonsense (we made that mistake the second time). and only cook it for twenty-five minutes if you have thinner chicken breasts. dry chicken is the worst.

we made it for some friends. who made a great sacrifice for the cause while trying to peel potatoes. but do not fret. we managed to keep the blood out of what would become the garlic mashed potatoes.

we also paired it with roasted broccoli. and followed it with the famous Harwood chocolate chip cookies. i do not think the boys talked through the whole thing. just occasional mumblings of tastebud satisfaction.

1. beef wellington:

now this was a delight. and a challenge. i had never made beef wellington before. and it was time intensive.

we had a free weekend and decided we would do a little cooking. Ryan was really wanting to try this new recipe out. i was a little hesitant at first. i had not taken on that big of a task in a while. and i was a little out of practice.

man. i was glad he talked me into it. it was melt in your mouth delicious.

we axed the liver pate. i do not feel the need to explain this decision.

it calls for beef tenderloin. which is really just filet mignon before it is cut. but the grocery store did not have it as the whole tenderloin. so we settled with the filet cuts. and used extra puff pastry wraps to cover the extra surface area. well, we actually used pie crusts on two of them. and puff pastry crusts on the other two. we had to be resourceful. both versions were delicious. but i think Ryan liked the pie crust version just slightly better.

either way. it was phenomenal. paired with roasted broccoli and cinnamon sugar sweet potatoes. and of course a budweiser.

we made some incredible sides too. the cheesy biscuit bombs. champagne pear gorgonzola salad (no peppers). roasted broccoli (just olive oil, salt, and pepper). cinnamon brown sugar sweet potatoes. garlic mashed red potatoes.

and do not forget dessert. my personal favorite. the famous Harwood addictive chocolate chunk cookies. mouth-watering dutch apple pie with vanilla ice cream and salted caramel. melt-in-your-mouth triple chocolate fudge brownies. but those are trade secrets.

mmm. it was good. all of it. it was, without a question, better than takeout.

are you hungry yet? because i am.